All aboard: Some Singapore athletes housed on cruise ship during Asian Games

NORTH KOREA'S OLYMPIC COMMITTEE led by Vice Minister of Physical Culture and Sports Pak Chon-jong, attended the official welcome ceremony for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, on Friday. The event, which occurred at the Port of Nagoya Garden Pier, was delayed by over an hour. Pak, a former basketball player in North Korea, served as the head of the delegation, while Olympic Committee Secretary-General Ko Chol-ho was also present.

The welcome ceremony was the eighth of nine official athlete welcome ceremonies during the Asian Games, which feature delegations from Palestine, Chinese Taipei, East Timor, Yemen, and India, among others. North Korea's 188-member team, comprising 107 athletes in 14 sports, aims to win gold medals in weightlifting, wrestling, and boxing.

The Asian Games organizers opted to provide accommodations on a cruise ship, temporary container units, and hotels for about 15,000 athletes and officials from 45 nations, rather than constructing a dedicated athletes' village to save costs.